GMOs 101: Genetically Modified Organisms – What are they?

Intro

The day before Hurricane Sandy hit, my mom and I agreed to spend the afternoon making a batch of chicken soup. Wandering the aisles of Fairway, I handed her a beautiful 5-pound roasting chicken. “I’m not buying that,” she told me, “It’s so expensive. Go grab the one that’s not organic.” I gave her my best you’re-about-to-get-a-lecture stare, and we spent the coming days stuck inside with no lights, internet, or cell service but plenty of time to discuss organic foods. In our society, even educated and/or affluent individuals still choose conventional food over more expensive organic food. With so much conflicting information, a lack of understanding makes it seemingly impossible to make the “right” choice. My mom was right, organic is more expensive, but that’s not the only thing to consider. It is important to understand the impact that pesticide-sprayed genetically modified foods has on us as individuals, as well as its more global repercussions. I will not tell you how to eat, but I will provide you with the facts so that you can make informed decisions about food.

History of GMOs

Since the beginning of agriculture, we have selectively bred plants for specific traits. By collecting and planting seeds from the most desirable yield, farmers have been able to create crops that are drastically different in flavor and appearance than their ancestors. Now our tomatoes are redder, our corncobs are larger, and our apples are sweeter than ever before. In the mid-twentieth century, the discovery of DNA took selective breeding in a new direction. For the first time in history, people were able to genetically modify (GM) a plant’s genes in order to create an entirely different crop. For example, scientists could splice a gene from a winter flounder and add it to a tomato plant in order to create a tomato that could survive a winter frost. By genetically altering a plant’s DNA, we have created what we now refer to as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GM plants became widespread during the “Green Revolution,” a revolution in breeding methods in the 1960s. In order to combat hunger in developing nations, scientists cloned high-yield crop varieties that responded better to controlled irrigation and fertilizers. The high-yield seeds were planted on massive fields so that food production would quickly increase. The Green Revolution spread quickly throughout the world, as countries like Mexico, India and the Philippines quickly adopted these new, GM plants. The US introduced GMOs into the commercial food supply in 1996, and they have increased rapidly since. According to Food and Water Watch, U.S. cultivation of GMOs grew “from only 7 percent of soybean acres and 1 percent of corn acres in 1996, to 94 percent of soybean and 88 percent of corn acres in 2011.” Today, most processed foods – except those with a USDA Organic label – contain GMOs.

More Food and More Hunger?

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have greatly increased the amount of food we produce. In 1998, we had enough grain alone to provide every person with thirty-five hundred calories a day (World Hunger: 12 Myths, Frances Moore Lappe, p. 8). Even with great population growth in the last 15 years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN states that global production is still high enough to feed all seven billion humans. However, according to the World Food Programme, more than one in eight people do not get enough to eat. How is it that with increased food production, we’re also seeing an increase in hunger? GMOs have increased hunger in two ways. First, the capital-intensive nature of modern farming has left small farmers unable to compete with the resources available to large corporations. For GM crops to grow to their full potential, they require extensive amounts of fertilizer, irrigation, herbicides and pesticides. As farming transitioned into capital-intensive, GMO-crop farming over the last few decades, many farmers were forced out of the industry because small farms could not afford the necessary technologies to compete with large, modern farms. With no skill set and nowhere else to turn, farmers, who once made up a large portion of the population, ended up impoverished and oftentimes hungry. Second, GMOs have exacerbated poverty and social inequality, leaving many unable to afford food. Over time, large corporations took over the food industry, and wealth became concentrated in the hands of a powerful few. The massive biotechnology corporation Monsanto, for example, now controls a huge portion of the food production industry (Foodopoly, Wenonah Hauter, p. 239). Monsanto has patented seeds, technologies, and weed control products to maintain their stronghold, which has created obstacles for smaller companies. Like biotechnology companies, food retailers have contributed to the concentration of wealth in our food system. For example, 50% of all US groceries were purchased from Walmart, Kroger, Costco and Target in 2012 (Foodopoly, p. 69). Over time, large businesses have forced small businesses to close, pushing many into poverty.